Light of Hope
by Sopran
Summary: Unbeta-ed. "And Cosmos saw her chance as Galaxia spoke, pleading with Usagi to destroy the Cauldron, to save the future."


**Light of Hope**

Unbeta-ed.**  
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She had long forgotten the name she'd been born with, this time around. It was in some beautiful language she no longer knew, long and strange and fluid. It was in the language of her people, a thriving civilization that spread far across the stars, strong and compassionate and wise.

But she had lived for so very long and, in a universe absent of all but two individuals, the knowledge slipped far into the recesses of her memory, sluggish and reticent as it was invaded by war and blood. All she could remember was battle, her adversary, and her title.

And so Cosmos floated among the stars as the ever creeping darkness of Chaos threatened to swallow her as it did her people. Its inky black tendrils crawled their way into her heart, dimming her light with despair. This war seemed never ending and she questioned the point of it all. There was no one left, Chaos' domination over the galaxies like a blitzkrieg, destroying everything in its path.

Just as she began to give up hope, she remembered how it all began. She remember the turning point, lifetimes ago, in another world. Far into the past, she'd made the wrong decision and now the universe paid for her transgression. Summoning her immense power, she flung herself backwards in time, fueled with a new, burning determination to change history.

The trip took more energy than she had imagined and, weakened nearly to the point of death, her body also went back in time, to the child body she'd once had. She looked at her tiny hands, pink and new, and almost cried at the loss. Still, she set off to find herself, searching among the sea of souls for the one that would be hers.

Fate on her side for once, it had taken far less time than she'd feared to find the girl named Usagi, who spoke a strange tongue she couldn't remember. There was only one word, written on a mug, that she could make out - "chibi," for "small" in her native language. But with no other means of communication, her own language mostly lost to her, that word became her only way to converse.

Her past self seemed surprised, but not to the degree she felt the younger girl should have expressed. Later, she would find a hidden picture of a small girl with candy-pink hair and, in the very last box of memories, she remembered the girl who would become - had been - her daughter.

Life with Usagi was strange. She slowly remembered living that life, all the loss and grief and pain. She comforted herself when the man she would always love died at the hands of Chaos, the first victim of Earth. The ease of the old language returned to her with great relief even as the ones she had loved long ago fell to Chaos' avatar. Through it all, she stayed with herself, using whatever magic she could spare when needed as she continued to recharge from the forceful rip through the fabric of time.

Before long, Usagi was alone, and fled the small planet for Sagittarius Zero Star with the daughter, the incense princess, and her stars. Even then, it was ultimately Usagi herself who stood bravely at the mouth of the birthplace of stars, the Galaxy Cauldron. And Cosmos saw her chance as Galaxia spoke, pleading with Usagi to destroy the Cauldron, to save the future.

But, as she had before, she refused herself, even as her enemy begged for the same thing.

The strength of her conviction, the power of her belief, filled Cosmos with more hope than she'd felt in longer than she knew. Usagi cried that as long as stars are born, everything would be okay, and it sparked a fire within Cosmos, understanding and remembering why she'd made the decision in the first place. Brimming with emotion, she grew to who she once had been, white and shining and strong.

Placing a kiss on her past self's cheek, she remembered everything - every moment, every sorrow, every happiness in the lives of Tsukino Usagi and Serenity. She smiled at her own shock, suppressing the laughter from the new lightness in her heart. As Usagi flew over the edge, Cosmos only wished there was more she could do for the girl she'd been.

When the Cauldron began to glow brighter as Usagi's wish was granted, Cosmos took her leave of the past, no longer hindered by cowardice and shame. Chaos would be pushed back once more and the galaxy would thrive once more, even though she would spend eternity to keep it so.

But she was determined to become the true Sailor Cosmos that she had been, that beacon of light, like the life of the young woman she once lived.


End file.
